Refrigerator



' `section of ythe drip pan.

Ressued Dec. 3, 1940 nsrmonna'ron Martin Hokanson, Duluth, Minn., 'assigner Ato Eidco, Inc., Duluth, Minn., a lcorporation of Minnesota.

Original No. 2,069,149, vdated January A26, 19337, Se-

rial No. 743,395, `September l0, .1934. .-tion for reissue `December f3,

9 Claims.

:invention relates ito refrigerators and .has

:special .reference .to `the arrangement of the iinterior parts .of 'the refrigerator, Athe principal obije'ct :being to materially improve fthe preserving `properties Yof perishable commodities thereof by arranging such parts to provide .and rassure a continuous convective circulation of air between `the .refrigerant -chamber and the vfood compartment 'and to 'provide novel -facilities -for expediting 'the cleansing of such a refrigerator.

Another object is to provide means within the refrigerator for maintaining vuniform vmoisture Acontent-of theair within the refrigerator.

A further object is yto provide .a :shallow space :below ythe :lowermost Vfood shelf and to provide -meanswhich acts as a baflleat .the door fand prevents the cold air from readily esca-ping from the .refrigeratorwhen-the door is open, andualsoma'kes it .impossible for foodstuff-s within the refrigerator tofobstruct thecirculationof air therein.

I'Still fother objects and advantages of the Airivention will appear in the following description thereof.

The refrigerator described -herein is an improvement .upon the :refrigerator disclosed-in ymyPatent No. .2,061,155 of November 17, 1936.

Referring :no-w to the .accompanying drawing, forming partof this application,:and wherein like reference .characters indicate like parts:

Fig. 1 is a transverse vertical section through l.the bottom portionnf a refrigerator, Ybutforwardly -of the Idrain pipe thereof.

Fig. .2 is a similar view taken lat right angles to Fig. l Aand in close proximity to ythe'drain pipe.

Fig. `3 is :an enlarged central .sectional view of the drain pipe rconnection vand trap therefor.

,F.ig. 4 .is a .fragmental top plan view of Fig. 3 .illustrating the construction `of the trap.

Eig. 5 is ka broken perspective view @partly in Numeral -I represents the side walls of the yrefrigerator, 2 the back, and 3 rthe bottom thereof,

While 24 is a portion of the front wall and 5 ,the food compartment door. The bottom -wall il is inclined Yfrom the front thereof rearwardly and `has provided therein centrally :and at the rea-rmostedge the water `seal 4. At the forward edge `of the bottom, transverse lthe doorway, van Iupwardly extending Vthreshold -6 is formed substan- `tiaily fiush with the top of the pervious shelf .1 Ato .prevent foodstuffs in the refrigerator from closing thedrip space 23 and thereby preventing convective circulation of Aairand to prevent .cooled .air from escaping Yfrom vthe refrigerator when the `door :5 is open. One fnovelfeature ofthe inven- Applica- 1938, Serial No.

(Cl. (i2-31) -tionfisithat a 4pervions or foraminous bottom -shelf -is provided -in spaced relation to the floor 3 to provide thefspace -24 zand so 'that its 'front end terminates .on a level with the threshold liy and that Where it contacts the back wall 8 of the food .compartment it is provided with Jan .impervious tosplashing 4portion yor strip 2l parallel with Aand vjust infront lof the back wall `8. This impervious ristrip 12l is Vfor the express purpose `of preventing the .splashing of Water which drips downward-1y lin thefdrip compartment of space y23 :intermediate -of the back wall B yand the back Wal-1 -2 ofthe refrigerator, as -it is well known that this `.drip .in some yinstances becomes quiteobjec- A `tionable 1in `splashing onto food or other objects in the food compartment of the refrigerator and by this 4means such Aannoyance -is wholly relrninetted. This Yimpervious portion maybe a fine screen Vof metal,=oran independent -thin sheet 'of material. y

At the upper `endvof the food wmpartrnent is .installed the .inclined `drip pan' or partition I5 covered withacorrugated sheet of metaLasshown -at |11., .and which .is deemed `novel and advantageous in that it is flattened at both ends, that is the .corrugations stop short of either end a-nd at the lower ond .it is turned down vertically and .overlaps .the inner .upper edge Yof the wall 8, Aas at I8., so as 'to driprclear of said wall into the drip .space .as .clearlyseen yin .'Fig. 5 of the drawing,`

while the 4opposite `flattened end f 9 of the cover I1 .overlaps the upwardly extending bead 20, thus making a simple `and yeflicient .drip pan which remains 1-.u1iformly damp and moist, and drips .freely into `.the drip space.

y.In voperation the air cooled `by a refrigerant in the .refrigerant chamber moves down the inclined drip pan I6 into the vertical space or flue 23 ass ociated with a vertical wall `of the refrigerator `and .thence .into -the space 24 `below the pervious shelf 1 by whichitis distributed throughout the .food compartment, andbeing warmedfby the foodstuffs therein, v`rises through the linlet 25 to-above the drip -pan Where it is again cooled and repeats .the cycle. '.At `the same time -the water of condensation vand of melted -refrigerant is directed by the .inclined drippan L6 into the space or flue ..23 associated with said vertical wall and while fall-ing in .said -ue v2.3 further cools the circulating air, accelerates 4the movement of the circulating .air .and also humidifies the circulating air.

The accompanying drawing illustrates the preferred 'form of the invention, though it is to be understood that the .invention .is not limited to the =exact-details of .construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of the claims, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

I claim:

1. Means` for increasing the humidity in the circulating air of a refrigerator having a drip compartment therein, comprising an inclined drip pan above said food compartment and dripping into said drip compartment, a dat scalloped lowermost terminus to said pan whereby to evenly distribute the drip from the pan below the ice, laterally into said drip compartment, and means adjacent the bottom of the drip compartment to prevent drip water splashing into the food compartment, said means being located sol as not to interfere with air circulation within said refrigerator. j

2. In a refrigerator, a food compartment characterized by the back Wall and bottom of the food compartment being spaced respectively from the back wall and bottom of the refrigerator, the space between said bottoms being substantially not less than the space between said back walls, thereby forming an unobstructed space for the ow of air between said back walls and bottoms towards the food compartment, a drip pan having means projecting into the space between said back walls to convey drip from a refrigerant into said space so that it will fall to the bottom of the refrigerator, a portion of the bottom of the food compartment adjacent the back wall thereof being so formed as to prevent splashing of water therethrough from the rear bottom section of the refrigerator.

3. A drip pan for refrigerators adapted to be placed beneath an ice rack therein and receive the drip therefrom and conduct it toward a drain,

characterized by having an upper lined surface which is corrugated intermediate its ends, one end thereof being bent downwardly over one end of the pankand the other end of said lining overlapping and being rabbeted into the other end of said pan.

4. In a refrigerator having a food compartment having an open bottom, a wall of which is spaced froma wall of the refrigerator forming an unobstructed drip space therebetween extending to the bottom of the refrigerator, a drip pan having means at the top of said compartment and projecting into the top of said space across the same to cause drip from a refrigerant to fall into the top of said space and thence to the bottom of the refrigeraton'and means at the bottom corner of the food cpmpart'mzht adjacent the drip space to preventthe drip/from splashing into the food compartmetx*4` f 5. A refrigerator comprising an enclosure having a pair of oppositely disposed walls, one of the walls of said'enclosure having a door opening therein, said enclosure including a food storage space. a baille forming a wall of said food storage space and cooperating Vwith the other of said pair of oppositely disposed Walls to provide a flue, a drip pan forming the upper wall of said food storage space and arranged obliquely with respect to the oor of said enclosure and extending upward to a point adjacent said door opening, said drip pan being arranged to cooperate with an overhead ice holder to provide an air cooling passage and to direct the drip from the ice into said iiue, a threshold extending upwardly from the floor of said enclosure and constituting/one of the walls of said door opening, a foraminQuS shelf extending from the top of said threshold to the baille and arranged to prevent the placing of food stuifs in position to obstruct the discharge of air from said nue, said bafe extending below the top of said foraminous shelf, and the inlet to said air cooling passage being disposed obliquely opposite to the outlet from said flue. whereby the air discharged from said iiue passes through said foraminous shelf and across the articles arranged thereon and ascends to the inlet of said air cooling passage and flows downwardly therefrom into said flue.

6. A refrigerator provided with a food compartment and a refrigerant space vertically above the food compartment; means constituting a drip space associated with a vertical Wall of the refrigerator; a drip pan, one edge of which extends to the upper end of the drip space, an opening being provided at the opposite edge thereof between the food compartment and the refrigerant space at a higher level than the opening into the drip space; and a pervious structure forming the bottom of the food compartment and arranged adjacent the bottom of the refrigerator, one edge of which extends to the lower end of said drip space to provide an air circulation space under the pervious structure communicating with said drip space, whereby circulation of air is provided for from the refrigerant space through the drip space, said air circulation space, said pervious structure' and upwardly and laterally through the food compartment back to the refrigerant space and whereby the circulated air is cooled and humidiiied by water from the refrigerant space, and means to prevent water adjacent the lower end of said drip space from splashing into the food compartment.

'7. A refrigerator provided with a food compartment and a'refrigerant space vertically above the food compartment; means constituting a drip space associated with a vertical wall of the refrigerator; a drip pan, one edge of which eX- tends to the upper end of the drip space, an opening being provided at the opposite edge thereof between the food compartment and the refrigerant space at a higher level than the opening into the drip space; and a pervious structure forming the bottom of the food compartment and arranged adjacent the bottom of the refrigerator, one edge of which extends to the lower end of said drip space to provide an air circulation space under the pervious structure communicating with said drip space, whereby circulation of air is provided for from the refrigerant space through the drip space, said air circulation space, said pervious structure, and upwardly and laterally through the food compartment back to the refrigerant space and whereby the circulated air is cooled and humidied by water from the refrigerant space, and means for trapping Water at the bottom of the drip space and means for preventing such trapped Water from splashing into the food compartment.

8. A refrigerator comprising a wall structure arranged to denne a food storage compartment and a ue, a. drip pan forming part of said wall structure at the upper part of the storage compartment and arranged obliquely with respect to the floor of said compartment, said drip pan being disposed to cooperate with an overhead ice holder to provide an air cooling passage and to direct melted ice from said holder into said flue, a foraminous rack arranged adjacent theA floor of said compartment and extending from said flue toward the center of the compartment, said ue terminating near the plane of the top of said rack, and the inlet to said air cooling passage being so disposed with respect to the outlet from ksaid iiue that the air discharged from said flue passes through said foraminous rack and across the articles arranged thereon and ascends to the inlet of said air cooling passage and flows downwardly therefrom into said flue.

9. A refrigerator comprising a Wall structure arranged to dene a food storage comparti-nent and a ue, a drip pan forming part of said Wall structure at the upper part of the storage compartment and arranged obliquely with respect to the oor of said compartment, said drip pan being disposed to cooperate with an overhead ice holder to provide an air cooling passage, a foraminous rack arranged adjacent the oor of said compartment and extending from said fine toward the center of the compartment, said ue 5 

